Broad and Slender Consonants

Level 1

Irish distinguishes broad and slender consonants. Adjacent a, o and u usually signal broad consonants; e and i signal slender ones, as in bó and bí.

How It Works

Irish distinguishes broad and slender consonants. Adjacent a, o and u usually signal broad consonants; e and i signal slender ones, as in bó and bí.

Broad and slender describe consonant sounds, not loudness or stress. A neighboring vowel letter can signal the consonant quality without being a separate full vowel sound. Listen to each word in one consistent dialect rather than pronouncing every written vowel independently.

Examples (3)

  1. Tá bó anseo.

    There is a cow here.

  2. Bí ciúin.

    Be quiet.

  3. Tá an fear sa teach.

    The man is in the house.